On Friday, benchmark oil prices continued to rise after rising in the previous session.
This is due to both expectations of economic growth in China and, accordingly, an increase in demand for oil from the world’s largest importer, and a continued decline in US stocks, Trading Economics reports.
The market is also supported by forecasts of colder weather in many parts of the United States, MarketWatch notes.
Quotations for March futures for Brent on the London ICE Futures exchange as of 7:09 a.m. amounted to $76.08 per barrel, which is $0.14 (0.2%) higher than the level at the close of the previous trading. On Thursday, these contracts rose by $1.29 (1.7%) to $75.93 per barrel.
The price of February futures for WTI in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX) in the morning rose by $0.23 (0.3%) to $73.34 per barrel. At the end of the previous session, the quotations of these contracts increased by $1.41 (2%) and reached $73.13 per barrel, which is the highest since mid-October, according to Dow Jones Market Data.
At the end of 2024, the price of Brent fell by 3.1%, while WTI remained virtually unchanged.
US oil inventories fell by 1.178 million barrels in the week ended December 27, the US Department of Energy said on Thursday. They declined for the sixth consecutive week.
Gasoline reserves increased by 7.717 million barrels, distillate reserves – by 6.406 million barrels.
